Chapter 24. The Power of Happy Points (3)

Millstones are heavy.

Which makes them inconvenient.

Once a must-have for traditional farming households, the millstone has now been replaced by the blender—an unfortunate fate for this once-crucial tool.

But a millstone is different from a blender.

Anyone who's used one knows.

"Compared to something ground up in a blender, the texture of the particles is completely different."

Much smoother.

Much finer.

But ridiculously inconvenient.

It takes up so much space.

And it's so heavy that just moving it even once requires serious determination.

Thanks to that, households with millstones have become almost—no, completely extinct.

"Oh my, you beautiful thing!"

But Kim Jangcheol wasn't like that.

The fierce impact of the fall.

The thick dust that burst up as a result.

Yet even through the dense clouds of dust that blocked his view, Kim Jangcheol recognized the millstone instantly. He reached out. His hand gripped the millstone's handle sticking up from the top, the "mill-hand."

Chuk!

The sensation of the mill-hand wrapping snugly in his grasp was exquisite. The weight felt just right. He pulled. The hefty—no, massive—main body of the millstone was pulled straight into his arms.

Thud!

"Judging by the size, the upper and lower stones must each be about 80 cm in diameter?"

It was an absurdly large millstone, even for a millstone.

Which made him like it even more.

Big meant heavy.

And heavy meant...?

…thump, thump.

Kim Jangcheol walked, his steps as heavy as the millstone itself.

Waiting ahead of him was the 1st Star Master.

Now almost turned to a dark crimson hue, the 1st Star Master. Maybe just a little over a minute remained until the self-destruction sequence he'd activated would be complete.

"...Hey."

In a deep, heavy voice, he called the 1st Star Master.

"I know what you're thinking. You've already decided it's over for you, and if you're going down, you don't want to go alone, right?"

"......"

The 1st Star Master didn't answer.

Kim kept speaking to him.

"So you're planning to drag everyone here down with you? Take us all with you on your path to annihilation."

"......"

"Fine. Don't answer. I wasn't expecting a normal conversation from a vengeful ghost like you anyway. Which is why—"

Huff.

He lifted the millstone high.

It was big, so it was heavy.

And because it was heavy, he liked it even more.

The heavier it was...

"...the harder I can smash you with it!"

KWAANG—!

"…..!"

The millstone smashed down on the 1st Star Master's skull!

The bastard went down like a flattened frog.

Kim grabbed him by the hair and lifted his head. Then he shoved the bastard's face down into the grain hole on top of the millstone.

"...Guh! Gahhk! Kahhak!"

The 1st Star Master struggled.

But Kim didn't care.

He pressed harder. With all his strength, he shoved the bastard in. Being a ghost without a true physical body, the 1st Star Master's semi-fluid head squished and squeezed into the grain hole.

"...W-wait a second!"

Maybe he'd just realized what was about to happen to him. Or at least got a rough sense that something terrible was coming. The bastard shouted in panic.

But Kim didn't respond.

He had no intention of doing so.

He just kept shoving.

"S-stop! I'll cancel the self-destruction… So please stop!"

The 1st Star Master's cries grew increasingly desperate.

"I'm sorry! No—I sincerely apologize!"

"…'Sorry' makes it all okay?"

"No, that's not what I meant!"

"Then cancel the self-destruction first."

"…..!"

"You can't, can you? Even if you want to, it's impossible, right?"

"That's…"

"You're apologizing, but still lying? Playing with words?"

"Wait! That's not—!"

"Not what, huh? And listen—this self-destruction you're trying to pull off, I absolutely have to stop it. I might be able to find a way to survive and get out on my own, but the guys who followed me in here? They've got no chance."

"Y-you mean… those low-rank demon race troops?"

"Yeah. The troops I brought with me, the farming corps."

Kim spoke directly to the 1st Star Master.

"They risked everything to follow me in here. But do you know what my criteria were for picking those guys?"

"How would I possibly…"

"There were things like having a sturdy build, being crazy bastards and all that... but there was one thing even more important. Want to know what it was?"

"I-I don't know!"

The 1st Star Master shouted, pretending to panic.

But in truth, he wasn't panicking at all. If anything, he welcomed the situation.

The Demon King was foolishly talking to him. That meant time. Time to complete the self-destruction sequence.

Hope flickered—the hope of dragging them all into death with him.

He felt happy.

He felt thrilled.

And at that moment, Kim Jangcheol said something entirely unexpected.

"They're all dads."

"…What?"

The 1st Star Master doubted his ears for a moment.

Dads?

W-who?

It was such an absurd thing to say that it even made him forget the twisted delight he'd been feeling.

"W-what are you talking about…"

"Those 300 over there. They're all fathers. One's got a pregnant wife due any day. One's got a baby who just started babbling. One has a daughter who just learned to crawl. One had unplanned twins. One saw his son take his first steps yesterday and cried like a baby himself."

"......"

"I picked those guys for the farming corps on purpose. Because they'd work harder than anyone else. No matter what happens, no matter how tough it gets, they won't give up. Normal people might give up, but a dad? A dad doesn't quit."

"So what are you trying to say…?"

"…What I'm saying is—I have to bring back 300 heads of household alive, and return them home!"

Crack!

As Kim Jangcheol pushed the 1st Star Master further into the millstone, the muscles in his hands, his forearms, his shoulders—his whole body—tensed with force. He unleashed all the magic power he'd been quietly gathering while pretending to chat.

The 1st Star Master couldn't withstand the sudden pressure.

"...!"

At last, the 1st Star Master, who had barely managed to hold on with just his head halfway shoved into the millstone, was completely crushed, his entire body squashed and crammed into the hole.

Even his waist and legs, all of it.

It had all happened in an instant.

'Damn it…'

Only then did the 1st Star Master realize.

He had secretly welcomed that brief exchange of words. But that had been a mistake. While he thought he was buying time through conversation, the Demon King had been building up the strength to finish him off.

"N-no, wait!"

The 1st Star Master, now completely wedged into the millstone, shouted in desperation.

But in that very moment, Kim Jangcheol, gripping the millstone's handle—the mill-hand—coldly snapped,

"Like hell it's a no."

"…What?"

"Goodbye."

…Plop!

Kim Jangcheol dropped a single drop of his own blood into the millstone. The red lightning imbued in the Demon King's blood spread throughout the entire millstone.

And right after, Kim Jangcheol's grip on the mill-hand, his arms, shoulders, his whole body, moved. His muscles erupted with explosive strength.

The millstone spun with force.

With the power to grind everything to dust!

Kaaaaaa—!

"...…!"

Everything about the 1st Star Master began to be torn apart within the millstone.

He couldn't even scream.

Not even one shriek.

That was the absolute end.

Just three seconds short of completing the self-destruction sequence, the 1st Star Master was disintegrated down to the mana particles—vanishing completely, leaving not even a trace behind in the world.

…Huff.

The fiercely spinning millstone came to a stop.

A soft breath escaped from Kim Jangcheol's lips.

The 300 members of the farming corps, watching him, swallowed their dry gulps. And they understood.

Their Demon King,

Their Commander of the Farming Corps, and President of the Demon King Castle's Youth Association,

Had finally defeated the 1st Star Master. He had conquered the Cliff of the Dead, once said to be impregnable, without a single casualty.

"…Waaaaaaaah!"

Before anyone could even call it, a cheer erupted.

And everyone rejoiced, assured beyond doubt.

'We're alive…'

'My baby, Flute! Just hold on a little longer. Daddy's coming home soon.'

The truth was—they had been afraid.

They were honestly scared.

The Cliff of the Dead was a terrifying place. When they'd first heard the plan to conquer it with only 300 men, their hearts had sunk. They'd wondered if the Demon King had lost his mind. They weren't sure they could make it back alive.

But still, they endured.

Was it because the Demon King was with them?

Because they trusted him?

No.

It was for their children.

The promise the Demon King had made: that when the time came for them to truly start farming—when harvest season arrived—he would give the very first potatoes to the families of the farming corps.

That one promise was everything.

If that promise was kept,

If it became real,

Then maybe, just maybe, their children wouldn't have to go hungry anymore. With that single hope, they joined the farming corps, shouted silly slogans without shame, and endured the awkward training of putting on and taking off underwear while diving into the dirt.

Because for their children, no hardship, no embarrassment, no shame was too much.

And even now, the same held true.

'Farming… maybe now, finally…'

It felt possible. The Demon King's promise felt like it could become reality. Please, let it be real.

Everyone looked at Kim Jangcheol with the same thought.

And then—it happened.

Ding-dong!

'Hmm?'

Just as Kim Jangcheol was catching his breath after finishing the intense millstone grinding, an unexpected message appeared before his eyes.

[You have achieved the feat of defeating the master of the Cliff of the Dead, boss character '1st Star Master Saruthul,' 20 times.]

'…What?'

Twenty times?

Defeated Saruthul?

Kim Jangcheol flinched.

Because he understood what the message implied.

'Hold on. Twenty times? Then that means… all my clears from back when I beat this boss in the game in Korea—those nineteen runs—are all being carried over into my reality now?'

It certainly seemed that way.

Kim Jangcheol, who had lived in South Korea.

Kim Jangcheol, now living as the Demon King.

It meant the two were not separate—but one and the same.

'Yeah… seems like that's what it means.'

Otherwise, the message wouldn't make sense.

How was he supposed to take this?

But there was no time to think further.

Ding-dong-dong!

[1st Star Master 20-time defeat reward]

[Hidden Event triggered]

[The artifact 'Heart of the Ice Spirit' reveals its true form before you.]

Clack! Clack-clack! Click-click-click!

At the very moment the messages appeared,

The Heart of the Ice Spirit, which had been temporarily entrusted to Baal during the battle with the 1st Star Master, began emitting strange metallic sounds in rapid succession.

"W-what? Whaaat? This thing's going crazy!"

Baal panicked and fumbled.

Kim Jangcheol took the Heart of the Ice Spirit back from him.

Even then, the artifact didn't stop. It even began to absorb the frost it had been emitting.

Clack! Clack-clack! Clack!

Was something mechanical moving inside?

At this rate, it seemed like a lid or something would pop open.

And soon—that guess came true.

…Click!

With a clear, crisp sound, the top of the Heart of the Ice Spirit opened wide.

Its inner contents now revealed.

Inside was…

"Huh?"

Kim Jangcheol involuntarily widened his eyes.

"A dra…gon?"

Wrapped in frost.

Seemingly the very source of the cold.

A tiny, snow-white frozen shape.

Roughly the size of a Maltese dog, perhaps.

It was a curled-up baby dragon.

Above its small body, delicate letters were engraved in fine relief. Thinking it must be the creature's name, Kim Jangcheol slowly read the letters.

"…Tyra…nnus."

This was his first encounter with the legendary demigod-level dragon, the Great Dragon King Tyrannus, who would one day grow in his arms… and become the father of the Dragon King Verkis.